Orwell's vision and our society

Tuesday

Sep 29, 2009 at 8:24 AM

John WhiteheadGuest Columnist

Much of what Orwell envisioned in 1984 has now come to pass. Surveillance cameras are everywhere. The government, as we have learned, listens in on our telephone calls and reads our e-mails. The National Security Agency has developed incredibly pervasive devices to study and track our every move, including everything we post on the Internet. As the American military empire expands and the local police have become more militaristic, the threatening cloud of martial law hovers overhead. Political correctness — a philosophy that discourages diversity — is now the guiding principle of American society. Increasingly, we only have the “freedom” to believe what society wants us to believe. Hate crime legislation punishes motivation, thoughts and eventually so-called “hate speech.” We are increasingly ruled by multi-corporations that are wedded to the state, while a celebrity-obsessed media has now become, by and large, the mouthpiece of the government. Much of the population is either hooked on illegal drugs or ones prescribed by doctors. Many of us have, so to speak, become consumer zombies walking comatose in shopping malls.The following are ten of the best films on the topic. Fahrenheit 451 (1966). Depicted here is a futuristic society in which books are banned, and firemen ironically are called on to burn contraband books. This film is an adept metaphor for our obsessively politically correct society where everyone now pre-censors speech. Here a brainwashed people addicted to television and drugs do little to resist governmental oppressors. THX 1138 (1970). This is a somber view of a dehumanized society totally controlled by the state. The people are force-fed drugs to keep them passive, and they no longer have names but only letter/number combinations such as THX 1138. Any citizen who steps out of line is quickly brought into compliance by police equipped with “pain prods” — electro-shock batons. Sound like tasers?A Clockwork Orange (1971). Here the future is ruled by sadistic punk gangs and a chaotic government that cracks down on its citizens sporadically. This film may accurately portray the future of western society that grinds to a halt as oil supplies diminish, environmental crises increase, traditional morality is destroyed and the only thing left is brute force.Soylent Green (1973). The year is 2022 in an overpopulated New York City. A policeman investigating a murder discovers the grisly truth about what soylent green — the principal food for people — is really made of. The theme is chaos where the world is ruled by ruthless corporations whose only goal is profit.Blade Runner (1982). In a 21st century Los Angeles, a world-weary cop tracks down a handful of renegade “replicants” (synthetically produced human slaves). Life is now dominated by mega-corporations, and people sleepwalk along rain-drenched streets. This is a world where human life is cheap, where anyone can be exterminated at will by the police. Sound familiar?Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). The best adaptation of Orwell’s dark tale, this film visualizes the total loss of freedom in a world dominated by technology and its misuse and the crushing inhumanity of an omniscient state.Brazil (1985). This vision of the near future is one replete with a merging of the fantastic with stark reality. Here a hapless clerk takes refuge in flights of fantasy to escape the ordinary drabness of life.V for Vendetta (2006). Society is ruled by a corrupt and totalitarian government where everything is run by an abusive secret police.Children of Men (2006). It is 2027, and the world is without hope since humankind has lost its ability to procreate. Civilization has descended into chaos and is held together by a military state and a government that attempts to keep its totalitarian stronghold on the population. Land of the Blind (2006). This dark political satire is based on several historical incidents in which tyrannical rulers were overthrown by new leaders who proved just as evil. A demented fascist ruler of a troubled land named Everycountry has two main interests: tormenting his underlings and running his country’s movie industry. Likewise, as Orwell’s novel concludes, Winston and Julia are taken to the Ministry of Love as part of the reprogramming process. Since Winston fears rats, he is tortured with rats until his feelings for Julia are destroyed. As confirmation that he sees the new reality of the state, Winston writes that 2+2= 5. The reprogramming is successful. He is cured. As the final sentence of Orwell’s book concludes, “He loved Big Brother.”

John Whitehead is founder and president of Charlottesville, Va.-based The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit group set up to safeguard constitutional freedoms.